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July 25, 2017

Doggie Inspiration For My New Novel

As I mentioned recently, I'm finishing up a new novel and getting ready to put it out in the world. (Eeek) It's a fairy tale (sort of a fractured fairy tale - remember those?), and there are a lot of dogs (since a doggy-supply boutique and a rescue group figure prominently in the story), but the main character's dog is a Cardigan corgi, that looks a lot like my nephew, Reggie.

I got the idea for the book long ago - 2012 to be exact. Back then, I wrote 4 pages about a woman visited by her fairy godfather - only he's afraid of dogs, so he's terrified of her Dachshund. I stashed the idea away though, because then I got busy with Rescue Me, Maybe and House Trained.

At one point in 2013, I saw a blog post on A Tail of Two Cardis about "Faerie Steeds." You can read the whole story here, but, in a nutshell, there's a legend that long ago the faerie folk needed a steed they could ride, so they came up with the "dwarf dog." (Apparently gi is dog in Welsh, and cor is dwarf, so corgi = "dog of the dwarfs." See more here.) The dogs were helpful and loyal, and the faeries used them to pull their carts or even rode them into battle.

After reading Taryn's post, I squirreled that tidbit away, and then in June, 2015 when I finally started working on the fairy tale in earnest, I changed the Doxie to a Cardigan corgi. And the fairy godfather is no longer afraid of dogs - in fact, he's delighted to see a "fine fairy steed."

The corgi in the book is named Llewellyn, after my "nephew" angel Lou. If you've been around the blog a long time, you'll remember Lou.

Such a sweet, handsome boy!

The Llew in the book is sort of a combo of Lou's and Reggie's personalities, and he features prominently in one of my favorite chapters in the book!

Reg says "Read that chapter to me right now!!" (Reg is helping proofread it, which is why he has a copy.)

I'm a little anxious about having it be out in the world but hopefully folks will find it to be a lot of fun and enjoy it!

If your dog was "invented" by a fairy/magical creature, what service would he/she provide?

Thinking Rita would be Defender of the Realm.

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Stop by their site to check out all of the other blogs in the hop.

That is exciting! I loved Rescue Me, Maybe and House Trained. I don't think you can go wrong with a Corgi! I could see Theo pulling a plow for the fairies. He's about the size of a Corgi, but with wider shoulders.

I love the idea of the Fairies riding the Corgis. It just looks so cute to picture!Mini's service would be to cheer everyone up! I say, one hug from her would fix everything. We joke about her having the power of cuteness in her eyes and that she can control people with them! Haha :)

Thanks for the back story on this. What cute dog photos. I can't wait to get my hands on this new book. I've never cared for fae much in urban fantasy books but hey, if they ride Corgis, they can't be all bad!

Corgis are awesome. Many people in my German shepherd dog club have transitioned to Pembroke corgis as they got older. Apparently corgis think and train like GSDs. We lovingly refer to them as "Condo shepherds."

I look forward to your new book as well. I've been a fan of yours since the first chapter of "What he Dog Ate."

Awww, thanks! ("Condo shepherds" - that's awesome! I refer to the dog in the book as a German Shepherd on 2 inch legs. Lou really did look a bit GSD-ish - when he was laying down - since Cardigans are usually quite a bit bigger than the Pembrokes. Plus,... the tail!)

I can't wait for your new book - it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!I love hearing about your process - it's so interesting that you put your ideas away for several years and then come back to them. I also love how your characters are based on real dogs in your life.I think Luke would also be a Defender of the Realm, and Cricket would be "Keeper of the Balls"! :)Good luck with everything. I can only imagine what it must feel like to put a whole book out there. I get butterflies in my stomach every time I hit "publish" on my blog - LOL.

haha. Yes, I sometimes get butterflies when I "publish" my blog posts too. Or even a Facebook comment! So... yeah... multiply that by about 1000 to get the anxiety with hitting the "publish" button on a book. :)

Your book sounds delightful, congrats on the accomplishment! My Husky loves to run & hike for hours, so If she were a fairy creation she'd be the one who travelled far & wide, carrying the fairies to farway lands!Love & biscuits,Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

Squeals! No doubt it will be a blockbuster! Can't wait for it to come out. Sam would love to bounce along with the fairies steed, Elsa would probably try to nosh on the fairies. #ohthatdog! Well done and give Reggie boy an ear scratch from us. 😍

I'd never heard of that legend until you told me and now I love it! Though Rudy really is too tall to be a true fairy steed, if they got up there he could take them really long distance :-) Rosie would make an excellent nursemaid to any new fairies!

Oh, that's so sweet of Rosie. :) You'll be happy to know I also made her fairy godfather light as a feather (even though he looks paunchy) so he's no weight on the dog.... but do you think I'll still get hate-reviews about riding the dog?? We'll see... I bet I'll get at least one or two. :)

hello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog hay my dada sez if i wer invented by a majikal kreetcher i wood probly provide noorotik advice and komik reeleef!!! i am not shoor but i think he may be beeing meen to me!!! krool krool dada!!! ok bye